Augustus e



(No Model.)

A. E. THOMPSON 8v W. LUND. HEDDLE 0R HARNESS PoR LooMs.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEICE,

AUGUSTUS E. THOMPSON AND WILLIAM LUND, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNORS TO THE NATIONAL LOOM HARNESS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

HEDDLE OR HARNESS FOR LOOIVIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters :Eatent No. 419,382, dated January14, 1890.

Application filed May 10, 1889. 'Serial No. 310,349. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, AUGUSTUS E. THOMP- AsoN and WILLIAM LUND, citizensof the United States, residing at Boston,.county of Suffolk, State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Heddles orHarness for Looms, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention consists of certain improve- Io ments in heddles orharnesses for looms, which are specifically pointed out in the claimsconcluding this specification;

The obj ect of ourimprovementis to provide for quickly and easilyslackening the wires I5 which form the leashes, so that the weaver caneasily pass his hands between the wires for the purpose of tying orconnecting a broken warp-thread. Especially is our improvement found tobe important in looms doing 2o more than two-shade work-that is,in loomsworking more than two harness-frames-for in such cases in the event ofthe breaking of a warp-thread between or behind the shades the weaver inhis efforts to mend or connect it must pass his hands entirely orpartially through the wires of all the harnesses on the loom to reachand tie the broken thread. If,

therefore, it were not for the facility afforded by our improvement forslackening the leash- 3o wires of the several harnesses at once, itwould be difficult for the weaver to pass his or her hands between thewires, which in working are under tension and could only with greatdifiiculty be spread apart sufliciently to allow 3 5 the weavers handsand wrists to pass between them.

rThe following is a description of the accompanying drawings, wherein isillustrated our improvement.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l represents in elevation a heddle orharness for looms containing our improvement and showing the leash-wiresunder tension. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the leash-wires releasedfrom tension by an eccentric cam-lever device which permits all thewires to be slackened at once. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sec tion of'the heddle, and Fig. etare Vdetails of the eccentric cam-lever device.

a a are the heddle bars or, staves, and b Z1 are the screw-rods whichpass through openings at each end of said bars and support themand'permit their adj ustmentin parallel relation to each other to putthe proper tension upon the leash-wires, asIwill more fully explainhereinafter.

c are the leash-wires, which are continuously passed in upper and lowersets through openings in each end of the eyes d, through the middleopenings c of which eyes the warp-threads are passed.

The outer edges of the bars are formed with grooves throughout theirlength to receive ropes or rubber cushions f loosely placed therein, andthe continuous wires are passed alternately around a bar and over itscushion and through the end openings in the eyes to form the Lipper andlower sets of leashes. The leashes are formed of tine annealed wire, andeach set is formed of a continuous wire which is fastened at each end toa bar. In the operation of forming the leashes the eyes are maintainedin perfect alignment, while the cushions allow the wires to be embeddedslightly within their surface, and thus'maintain the relative and properspacing of the wires upon their bar-bearings. The wires are made taut bythe straining of the bars or staves apart from leach other to give aproper tension to the wires by means applied to the supporting-rods. Oneend of each rod, preferably the lower end, is screw'- threaded, and eachis provided with lock-nuts g, which bear against the inner edge ofthebar. The other ends of the rods, preferably the upper ends, which passthrough openings in the'other bar, are not screw-threaded, and areprovided with shoulders h about an inch and a half below the inner edgeof said bar. Outward-proj ecting-arms z' are fitted, preferably, looselyupon these rods, and, resting upon the shoulders thereon, are preventedfrom turning upon the rods by meansmof guide-fingers j, which projectfrom said arms on each side of the bar and allow the .latter to be movedvertically between them.. For placing these guide-fingers Hush with thesides of the bar they are fitted into recesses in the sides thereof.Eccentrics or cam-levers kare 1 pivoted preferably to the outer ends-ofthe arms in such manner as to bear against the under side of theheddle-bar, which for this purpose is provided with face-plates Z, toform bearings for the eccentric -lever device. Vhen, therefore, thisdevice is in posit-ion for straining the bars apart to apply tension tothe wires, the eccentric-lever device is placed or turned to produce themaximum tension in connection with adjustment at the other ends of therods or braces upon the wires and to maintain such tension. A simple wayof holding the eccentric-lever device securely for this purpose is toform a lever-arm upon the eccentric device so as to extend down and bearagainst the rod some distance below the pivot ot' said eccentric device,and thereby lock the eccentrics in their acting positions by bringingthe acting point beyond or outsideV the vertical centers of the pivotsto maintain the wires under tension, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. l.In the event, however, of the breaking of a warp-thread, and to permitthe weaver to easily and freely get. access to such broken thread to tieor twist it together, the leash-wires must be slackened, so that theycan be freely spread apart or opened to admit the hands and wrists ofthe weaver to reach the broken and separated ends of the thread and totie them together. This slackening of the leash-wires is eifected atonce by turning the eccentric-levers out from their bearing upon therods, which releases the eccentric action upon the bar and allows it tofall by its weight and spring of the wires upon being relaxed, and,resting upon the rod-arms, bring all the leash-wires in a loose orslackened condition, as shown in Fig. 2, through which the weaver canplace his hands and wrists for the purpose stated. rllhe warp-threadhaving been repaired, the eccentric-lever devices are again turned tostrain the bars apart from each other, and thus restore all the leash-wires to their proper tension. This proper tension is effected by theadjustment of the lock-nuts on the rods against the lower bar, becausethe eccentric-lever device only acts to maintain the tension so producedby forcing out the movable bar upon its rods. Referring, therefore, tothe harness-flame as a complete thing, it will be seen that one of itsbars is adapted for being moved freely upon the rods without disturbing1the adjustment of the latter in relation to the means by which the baris moved or the means by which the rods are adjusted.

W'e prefer to cement the leash-wires to their bearing-cushions and tocement the latter within their grooves in order that we may hold and tixthe leash-wires in their proper places upon their bearing-cushions, theproper and uniform tension of the leash-wires around the bars bein gmade, however, before the cementing is done. This cementing sometimesbecomes important to prevent the operator (when handling a singlelieddle) from disturbing the wire at its bearing-point upon the cushion.

It will be understood that the leash-wires can be tightened whenrequired by turning up the nuts, and that the lever device shown for theliberation. of the upper bar from the straining action of theleash-wires can be replaced by any equivalent device that will actquickly to liberate the bar to slacken the wires and to again thrust itout to bring all the wi res again to their proper tension. In thisoperation, the facility afforded for quickly slackenin g the wire is ofgreat advantage in lessening the time which the loom is required to stopwork in mending a broken thread.

The provision for slackenin g all the leashwires at once by means whichfreely permit the upper bar to fall toward the lower bai upon itssupporting-rods and the connecting et' the leash-wires to the outeredges of the bars co-operate to preserve the proper relation of thewires to each other in the operation of slackening and tightening them.

le have shown the straining and relaxing devices as being mounted uponthe supporting-rods of the heddle-bars; but it is obvious that such orsimilar devices may be suitably mounted upon the bars themselves andadapted to act upon fixed parts of the rods to bring the wires to theirproper tautness and to render them slack.

XVe have stated that the spring ot' thelea'shwires will pull the bardown when released from its lever devices, an d itwill be understoodthat this spring in the leash-wire is produced by their tautness andcontinuous alternate winding through the eyes and over the bars.

Referring to the holding and fixing of the leaslrwires upon the bars, itis obvious that such provision eo-operates with the provision forsuddenly relaxing the leash-wires; other wise the latter would be liableto become loose at their bearings on the bar and by their spring actionbecome displaced from their relative relation.

1We claim as our improvementl. In a shade or harness-frame for looms,

t the combination of a lower bar or stave-,rods

engagingin the same and provided with fixed shoulders or stops neartheir upper ends, an upper bar or stave which is adapted to slide freelyupon the smooth upper ends of said rods, and means intermediate saidstops and upper bar for forcing said upper bar or stave outward from thesaid shoulders or stops upon said rods, substantially as described.

2. In a shade or harness-frame for looms, the combination, with thebars, the leashcs attached to the same, and rodshaving means foradjusting the relative distance between said bars, and-consequently thetension of said leashes, of lever devices upon said rods for quicklyreleasing' and spreading apart said heddle-bars, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a shade or harness-frame for looms, the combination of an upperand a lower bar or stave, rods having the lower bar or stave mountedupon them and having the upper bar or stave adapted to slide upon theirupper ends, and lever devices upon said rods for IOO IIO

raising and releasing said upper heddle-bar, substantially as described.

4. In a shade or harness-frame for looms, the combination of an upperand a lower bar orstave, rods having the lower bar or stave mounted uponthem and having the upper bar or stave sliding upon their upper ends,stops upon said rods for limiting the downward play of said upper bar orstave, and lever devices intermediate said stops and upper bar forraising and releasing said upper bar or stave, substantially asdescribed.

5. In a shade or harness-frame for looms, the combination of an uppe'rand a lowerbar or stave, rods having screw-threaded lower ends insertedthrough the lower b ar or stave and 'smooth upper ends inserted throughthe upper bar or stave and formed with stops or shoulders near s aidupper ends, locknuts upon the lower screw-threaded ends-of said rodsbearing against the lower heddle-bar or stave, arms secured upon saidrods and above said stops or shoulders, and lever devices pivoted insaid arms to raise and release said upper bar or stave, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a shade or harness-frame for looms, the combination, of an upperand a lower bar, rods engaging said lower bar and having the upper barsliding upon their smooth upper ends and formed with shoulders at saidupper ends, arms supported upon said rods and above said shoulders andformed with upwardly-projecting guide-fingers which straddle said upperbar, and lever devices upon said arms to raise or release said upperbar, substantially as described.

7. In a shade or harness-frame for looms, the combination of an upperand a lower bar, rods engaging said lower bar and having said upper baradapted to slide upon their upper ends, arms projecting laterally fromsaid rods near their upper ends, and levers pivoted in the ends of saidarms and having their upper short arms bearing against the under side ofsaid upper bar and having their lower long arms adapted to bear againstsaid rods, substantially as described. I

8. In a shade or harness-frame i'or looms, the combination of an upperbar or stave bar, and levers pivoted in the outer ends ofy v said armsand having their short upper arms bearing against the under side of saidupper bar and their lower long and curved arms adapted to bear againstthe rods, substantially as described.

9. The combination, in a shade or harness for looms, of the bars, therods, and a pivoted straining and relaxing device on one end of each ofsaid rods, with the eyes and the leash-wires, the latter having a fixedbearing on the bars, whereby in the sudden relaxing of one of the barsthe leash-wires and their eyes will retain their proper relation to eachother and to the bar.

10. In a shade or harness for looms, the combination, with the eyes, theleash-wires, the bars and their supporting-rods, of a pivoted leverdevice secured upon each rod to give an outward movement to one of saidbars within certain limits, for the purpose stated.

11. In a shade or harness for looms, the combination, with the bars forthe leash-wires, the eyes, and the supporting-rods for said bars, ofpivoted straining and relaxing de; vices adapted to strain and relaxsaid leashwires, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses. f

AUGUSTUS E. THOMPSON. l WM. LUND.

Witnesses:

FRANK W. RICHARDS, JAs. P. GoRDoN.

